The present invention relates to the field of pop-up greeting cards. More particularly, the invention is directed to pop-up greeting, gift and novelty cards, pre-assembled to present a sound media item, such as a compact disk (CD) when the greeting card is opened by a recipient.
Pop-up greeting, gift and novelty cards (collectively, “greeting cards”) have traditionally been given or exchanged on anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, holidays and other personal or holiday occasions or in friendship; to send gifts, messages, pictures, poems or songs, and to celebrate or commemorate such special events or relationships. While some such greeting cards have contained a CD, digital video disc (DVD), picture or other small gift item loosely attached or contained within and removable from the card when it is opened, none of these existing greeting cards present the gift item in a pop-up presentation feature for the recipient upon opening the greeting card.
Pop-up greeting cards are well-known in the related art, in a variety of designs. Pop-up cards commonly include text, drawings, and pictures on the card itself, as well as pop-up figures. Greeting cards also may contain sound devices embedded in the cards, such as computer or electronic chips that play a greeting, short tune or song, or personalized message or song, when the card is opened. However, pop-up greeting cards have not provided a pre-assembled gift package whereby the pop-up feature of the card automatically presents a CD, DVD or other such media item gift integrally connected to the pop-up element when the card is opened by the recipient.
Devices with pop-up elements have been provided with subsequent removal of CDs, but in only the form of packaging as self mailers or for display purposes in connection with use in CD jewel boxes. None of these self mailers or displays provide for the element of a greeting card.
To date, devices containing CDs, DVDs and other sound media items, generally, have fallen into three categories: (I) self-mailers and packaging to protect the media item; (ii) pop-up displays whereby a media item subsequently by manual action can be permanently displayed by the recipient or as a point-of-purchase display or (iii) greeting cards in which the media item is actually embedded or otherwise attached in the card to deliver the item or play a message upon the opening of the card.
The present invention is a gift package whereby the pop-up feature of the card automatically and immediately presents a CD, DVD or other such media item gift to the receiver when the card is opened. Accordingly, it is an object for the present invention to provide the recipient of a pop-up greeting card a novel experience upon opening the greeting card, the presentation of the media item such as a CD integrally and removably attached, or pre-assembled, to the pop-up element of the greeting card.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved greeting card, presenting the media item, such as the CD, to the recipient of the greeting card upon his opening the card.
Related art provides information regarding greeting cards containing CDs, as examples: U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,473 to Shenk and U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,023 to Sud, et al. While providing for greeting cards containing a CD, neither of these patents provide the feature of a pop-up card element found in the present invention. As well, the CD gift, or other media item, included in each of these greeting cards must be manually manipulated in the respective inventions to provide for a presentation of the CD gift upon the recipient opening the respective greeting card. The patent to Sud includes a formed, raised image and panels, and the CD in Shenk is secured to a panel of the greeting card, each precluding a pop-up element from being utilized. None of these patents provide the feature of a pop-up card element found in the present invention. Therefore, an object of the present invention, novel experience, is lost in these patented inventions.
Other related art regards devices that provide information about sound media items playing tunes or messages, as examples: U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,108 to Crowell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,761 to Pelkey, U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,836 to Dawson and U.S. Pat. No. 1,541,002 to Shramek. However, none of these patents provide the feature of presenting a CD to the recipient, an element of the present invention. The patents to Crowell and Dawson provide audible message switches as a function of the devices, not part of the present invention. Crowell is not a greeting card. None of these patents provide the feature of a pop-up card element found in the present invention.
The related art patents to Crowell, Pelkey, Shramek, U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,300 B2 to Simpson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,194 to Simpson function as display devices for media items or as self-mailers requiring mailing elements, in each case inhibiting the automatic or spontaneous feature found in the present invention, when the device is opened or received by the recipient, requiring the recipient to physically manipulate the media item to extract it from its location in each device, thereby prohibiting the pre-assembled pop-up and automatic presentation feature found in the present invention. The related art patents to Simpson '300 and Simpson '194 function as display devices for CDs, requiring the recipient to physically manipulate the CD to extract it from its location in each device, by either sliding the CD, or other media item from a sleeve, pulling the CD off an adhesive backing or pulling the item from its casing, thereby prohibiting the pre-assembled pop-up and automatic presentation feature found in the present invention. The Pelkey and Schramek devices relates solely to phonograph records as an element of each, lacking the pop-up presentation element. Schramek is a postcard and not a greeting card.
Other related art provides information regarding pop-up display devices, displaying CDs, as examples: U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,612 to Davault, U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,221 to Van Witt, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,739 to Moore, U.S. Patent 2003/0230515 to Mouyal, U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,823 to Brunt II, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,157 to Howell, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,491 to Burtch, as well as Simpson '300 and Simpson '194, do not have the elements of a greeting card of the present invention. Davault, Van Witt, Howell, Simpson '300 and Simpson '194 require the recipient to physically manipulate the CD to extract it from its location in each device, by either sliding the CD, or other media item from the sleeve, pulling the CD off an adhesive backing or pulling the item from its casing, thereby prohibiting the pre-assembled pop-up and automatic presentation feature found in the present invention. Moore and Mouyal are self-mailers. Brunt II does not include the CD element. Burch is solely a display device. None of these patented inventions provide the greeting card element of the present invention. Therefore, the objects of the present invention, novel experience and improved greeting cards are lost with these patented inventions.
As well, the patents to Davault, Van Witt, Mouyal and Howell do not provide an element pop-up feature element of the present invention, providing spontaneous presentation of a CD to the recipient when a greeting card is opened. No greeting card element is provided by these patents. The CD in each of these patented inventions must be manually manipulated in the respective inventions to provide for a presentation after the recipient opens the respective display device or CD jewel box. The patent to Brunt II does not provide for the element of display of a CD. The patents to Moore and Burtch provide for the pop-up feature but are constructed either in a manner to function as a self-mailer device (in Moore) or to provide the function exclusively for display (Moore and Burtch), to preclude, in either case, their function as greeting cards. The patents to Davault, Van Witt, Simpson '300 and Simpson '194 provide devices for use in jewel boxes containing the CDs, completely preventing their use as greeting cards. A U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,233 to Stern, et al., while a display containing a CD, does not provide the features of a pop-up greeting card elements found in the present invention.
Although these related art patented inventions provide features for packing, shipping or displaying CDs or other recorded music or messages, none provide the combination of the greeting card and the disk/pop-up elements of the present invention. All of the related art patented inventions cited above suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages:                1. Serving only as self-mailer and packaging device for shipping and display purposes;        2. Requiring it to be opened in its entirety to remove the sound recording device; or        3. Not serving as a gift package that presents a recording device to the recipient as part of and integrated into the three-dimensional pop-up design and greeting.        
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the present invention described above, several additional objects and advantages of the present invention are, as follows:                (A) To provide a greeting card as a gift package that spontaneously presents a CD or DVD (playing a greeting, short tune, song or poem, or personalized message, poem or song, or containing a personal audiovisual message);        (B) To provide a greeting card that is a pop-up greeting containing a CD or other media item;        (C) To provide a greeting card that spontaneously presents a CD or other media item, pre-assembled by being removably secured in the greeting card, when the card is opened by the recipient; and        (D) To provide a pop-up greeting card in which the CD or other media item is integrated into the pop-up element to surprise the recipient.        
Still further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing descriptions and drawings.